By Paula Stuart-Warren, CG.
Since 2007! A little of this, a little of that. Miscellaneous "stuff" and genealogical gold. Occasional fluff, but with a meaning. Notes from a full-time and Board-certified professional genealogist & friends on family history research, genealogical events, life, and family in Minnesota and elsewhere.

05 March 2010

NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? It has debuted! WOW

I am typing this as I watch the premier show. I am impressed. Sarah Jessica Parker is the featured celebrity tonight and I am loving that they aren't jumping from celebrity to celebrity with small snippets of each. That bothered me a bit with the "Faces of America" series that was on PBS recently.

While they can't show each step of the research I am thrilled that they are showing a variety of records, both online and off. Visits to libraries, specific localities, historical societies, museums are shown. The starting point of talking with family and looking at home sources is represented in the visit with her mother. The audience gets to see Ancestry.com, census, newspaper articles, maps, old letters, original court records, and that not all is online. I did gulp a bit when I saw her pencil a bit too close to an original document. For those of you who have never used such documents, you might have to wear gloves when you use the records at some archives. This is to protect these one-of-a-kind records

If only we all could run from one part of the country to the other to research. Sigh. However, this does show that our answers are not all in one place. Nor does one person have all the knowledge. She worked with professional genealogists, historians, archivists,a librarian.

As a genealogist I was happy to see the range of emotions of the family history discovery that SJP went through -- excited, sad, bouncing off the wall, guilt, scared, and more. We saw the neat feelings of walking where your ancestors walked.

SJP's reactions to finding her ancestral places in history were shown beautifully. The editors did a great job with this show. My friends Natalie Cottrill and Joshua Taylor did great work on their portions of tonight's show.

I saw some reviews of the show in newspapers from across the country -- most were negative. I hope some of them change their minds after watching it on TV or learning more about SJP's reactions and feelings. On the other hand, I have no interest in stamp collecting, refurbishing antique cars, or bird watching. But I know the folks who do are passionate about what they do and I respect them for that.

Will I watch the rest of the series. You bet! As a non-genealogist Facebook friend of mine just said, "It's a cool show." Thank you Ancestry.com and others for the support that enabled this to be on in prime time!

I did enjoy the NBC program on SJP's genealogy. It would be nice if all of us could follow our own families as they traveled from state to state. Also to have the top genealogists with their expertise ready to assist and offer direction.I was wondering where the letter of the grandfather's death (Ca miner)came from, did I miss something? Too bad the original record of the witch trial wasn't handled more carefully and with more dignity. What a wonderful treasure to find!! Josh did a great job, as did all the others with their segment. Marilyn

I am from UK, where the show originated and have watched every single episode with delight. I feel the shows are an excellent way of motivating people to explore their own family history and not only find out the names and dates, but what life was like for our ancestors in the time they lived!

Of course, it's important to remember that not everyone's research will find out such interesting facts -many of the celebrities who start out with the programme are not taken any further forward as there is not much of extreme interest in their family history for the outside audience!

I loved the SJP episode and could feel my emotions building along with hers! an excellent 1st show.

I am from UK, where the show originated and have watched every single episode with delight. I feel the shows are an excellent way of motivating people to explore their own family history and not only find out the names and dates, but what life was like for our ancestors in the time they lived!

Of course, it's important to remember that not everyone's research will find out such interesting facts -many of the celebrities who start out with the programme are not taken any further forward as there is not much of extreme interest in their family history for the outside audience!

I loved the SJP episode and could feel my emotions building along with hers! an excellent 1st show.

Thanks Paula ... but the NBC site seems to be blocked for viewers outside the US ? I have tried to load the show on the NBC website but it keeps stalling and telling me to be patient !! I guess I'll have to be very very patient and wait until it airs in Ireland !

ps ; anyone needing help with their irish genealogy just drop me a line as I'm less than 1hr from the national archives ! (snitch_snitch@hotmail.com)

Paula Stuart-Warren, Certified Genealogist℠

A life-long Minnesotan born and raised in St. Paul.

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